


Joey Drew is Bad at Being Bi

by Your_Narrator



Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Cussing, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff, M/M, i just have this image of joetrum in my head and this is that image, i mention a few of the main cast, it gets flirty, kind of, minor OC her name is gertrude, pre-game, the charmer has been charmed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-25
Updated: 2019-04-25
Packaged: 2020-01-24 00:30:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18560272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Your_Narrator/pseuds/Your_Narrator
Summary: After a year of speaking thru notes and letters, Joey Drew finally meets the infamous Bertrum Piedmont. Maybe a little one-on-one communication could FINALLY get Bendyland sorted out.





	Joey Drew is Bad at Being Bi

**Author's Note:**

> I love Bertrum Piedmont with my whole heart. Please enjoy this interpretation of his character~

Pipes were leaking, employees were shouting. The entire building sounded like it was on fire, even if there wasn’t a single flame...

... Just a typical day at the office.

Joey had gotten used to the noise, even as he strolled about the hallways, biding his time until his first appointment of the day. Technically he had another appointment just an hour ago, but the newest brew of coffee and Ms. Campbell’s lovely eyes had distracted him from meeting with Tom. Somewhere, Tom was pissed, but Joey didn’t really care. He and Tom met constantly about the Machine anyway; what was one missed appointment? This next appointment, though, held just a little more importance in Joey’s mind: it was his first meeting, in-person, with Bertrum Piedmont.

Mr. Piedmont had been on the payroll for almost a year now. Cohen had hired him, assuring Joey up and down that he was the best candidate both in qualifications and in creativity, yet every single plan that Mr. Piedmont sent in made absolutely no sense. Perhaps Piedmont was a fool. Perhaps Piedmont’s communication skills lacked! Perhaps Joey had no experience in engineering, and thus couldn’t understand any of the notations and schematics that Piedmont had designed. It was probably the last one, but Joey would never admit it, and instead “corrected” Piedmont’s work in an attempt to hide his cluelessness. Needless to say, this had caused a huge fuss between Joey and Mr. Piedmont, with scathing letters flying back and forth, and even more aggressive notes on the papers that were supposed to be the beginning of Bendyland. It was almost a year of fighting, and it needed to end now.

Bendyland had to come to fruition some day. However, a year of fighting was hard to get over.

Thinking of Mr. Piedmont’s scathing comments began to stir something within Joey. “ARE YOU MAD?” “Have you ever read anything in your life?” “Do you even know what you’re saying?!” Piedmont had treated Joey as if he was a child, and not his employer. Out of every person Joey had hired, he had never met someone with such arrogance, with such a need to point out Joey’s own ignorance so blatantly. Other people had seen Piedmont’s comments, and it took all of Joey’s power to persuade them to think he was in the right. Even then, some of Joey’s employees still looked skeptical as they walked away. But of course Joey knew what he was talking about! Obviously, as the head of an animation company, he had years of experience in engineering.

Obviously.

“I know what I’m doing,” Joey told no one in particular, “Damn ungrateful bastard.”

Joey now stood in one of the empty halls, glaring into an empty office as the chaos of his studio was but a murmur in the background. The hardwood floors creaked under his feet as he teetered from foot to foot, now possessed by a need for revenge. His tight fist held a cup of lukewarm coffee, a beverage that was now abandoned by his own frustration. However, one can never be alone in Joey Drew Studios for too long.

“Mr. Drew?”

Joey’s head slowly turned to see Cohen gazing at him from down the hall.

“Mr. Piedmont is here.”

And that bastard would pay.

“Excellent!” Joey flashed his fake smile, his tone as chipper as his recordings, “Let’s go meet the man, the myth!”

Cohen knew that voice though; he knew Joey was pissed, but as a seasoned veteran of the studio, Grant didn’t shy away. Instead, he walked with Joey into the busier corridors, flashing budget predictions in front of his boss’s face in an attempt to get one approved. They weaved in and out of custodians, animators, voice actors, and everyone inbetween. Somewhere, Sammy was screaming about an instrument being broken, and Joey even heard Grant mumble “We don’t have the budget for that.” Joey then poked at one of Grant’s budget predictions, demanding that one to be finalized, and with a sense of accomplishment, Grant started towards his own office, but not before pointing into the administrative waiting room.

“There he is.”

Joey’s eyes followed Grant’s finger, but once he saw who Grant was pointing to, his heart stopped.

The man that sat in the waiting room stood out like a Vermeer painting in a grocery store. His hair was a muted red, with streaks of blonde covering the top of his head. High, thin cheekbones framed his piercing green eyes, and his long, pointed fingers tapped meticulously at the schematic he held. His presence was encompassing, with a daring white suit, navy blue tie, and black patent leather shoes standing out against the messy grey walls of the room.

The situation had changed. Every rude remark and every stomp of Piedmont’s metaphorical foot had suddenly fallen away from Joey’s mind. Revenge? What was that? A man so distinct needed no revenge brought upon him. There had obviously been a misunderstanding between the two of them, and any misunderstanding can be solved with dinner and a little wine.

Joey pushed his hair back, straightened his bowtie, and made his way into the waiting room. He usually would have his secretary call in his appointments, but now he wanted to meet Mr. Piedmont personally.

“Mr. Piedmont?”

Those green eyes glared up and cut through Joey.

“Yes?” Bertrum’s voice was deep with a natural vibrato.

“Welcome to Joey Drew Studios!” Joey gave a casual smile, “I’m very sorry to keep you waiting.”

Bertrum gazed back towards his work, his eyes half-lidded, “You must have been busy stepping on someone else’s job.”

Even if he was gorgeous, Bertrum Piedmont was definitely a bastard.

Joey forced the sweetest tone he had, “No, but, that is why I invited you here, Mr Piedmont. I have been extremely rude to you, and the last thing I would want to do is to make an enemy out of the man that’s helping build my park!”

“It’s not yours,” Bertrum replied flatly, “It is to be my accomplishment. Your characters are simply being featured as decoration.”

Joey frowned, “Now now, Mr Piedmont. I understand your hostilities; I had the same ones towards you. But, if you were to bring down your aggression just a tad, I think we could find some common ground here! After all, I did admit my wrongs!”

“And yet I have heard no apology.”

Joey sighed. It was a long sigh, bordering on agitated, but he kept it just short enough to avoid alerting Piedmont to how frustrated he really was.

“Then I apologize, wholeheartedly, for as you say, “stepping on your work.” Please allow me to make up for it by having a more friendly meeting. Allow me to hear out what I’m missing from you.”

For a moment, Bertrum just gazed back at Joey, but then a small smirk played across his thin lips.

“Very well,” he pulled together his own paperwork before standing, “Then I apologize for the immature name-calling in my replies.”

If apologies were really due, Joey needed at least twenty more on top of that one, but in order to get this relationship to work, he’d have to move more slowly that he typically did. It was inconvenient to move slower, but for eyes like those, Joey would make an exception.

“Thank you!” Joey chirped, “Now, shall we?”

He gently wrapped one arm around Bertrum’s shoulders, and the latter gazed at said arm as if it was going to bite him. Unaware of Bertrum’s dismay, Joey made sure to tilt his wrist just right, showing-off his Bendy-themed cufflinks before leading Bertrum towards his office.

“So, how do you like my facilities?” Joey asked, gesturing at the hall around them, “First impressions?”

Bertrum pursed his lips, “Interesting, very... Minimalistic.”

“Well, you do have to keep the canvas blank!” Joey replied, “After all, every cartoon starts from a blank page!”

“I suppose,” Bertrum still seemed occupied with observing his surroundings as they stepped through the threshold to Joey’s office, “... Hmm.”

Joey looked back to him, “Hmm?”

“Nothing.”

Nothing? This Piedmont guy sure wasn’t good at hiding his feelings, let alone his opinions. His eyes narrowed at the few cabinets, and it was obvious he was passing some sort of judgement at the dust gathering on Joey’s desk and papers. The room was stuffy to a point, as Joey barely used his office. It was mainly a giant display case, showing off “Joey’s” achievements in the form of his awards lining the walls. Despite there being awards for music, animation, and all-around entertainment, Bertrum seemed far from impressed

“Am I supposed to sit on that couch?” he asked.

“Oh!” Joey led him over, “Yes, we’ll both sit here!”

“... Alright.”

Bertrum’s attitude was extremely poignant, but nonetheless, they both sat down.

“I thought you’d want your plush chair, Mr. Drew.”

Joey gazed over to the chair he often sat in when he had nothing else to do. It was the perfect place to take a nap.

“No, I’d rather be next to you. Make it more of a conversation between the two of us! After all, that’s why we’re here! To find equal ground.”

One of the corners of Bertrum’s mouth turned up.

“And please, Mr. Drew is so formal, and we aren’t like that around here! Call me Joey.”

And the other corner followed.

“You almost seem genuine, Mr.- ... Joey,” Bertrum snorted.

“May I call you Bertrum?”

Bertrum chuckled, “Absolutely not.”

... How could a line so condescending be so charming? It had to be the laugh.

“Mr. Piedmont it is,” Joey nodded appreciatively before clasping his hands, “SO! I see you brought a lot of stuff! A...”

Now that Joey was looking past Bertrum himself, he realized that his colleague had collected every single schematic from the past year. Or at least that’s what it looked like, as the stack of papers Bertrum had been carrying was quite tall. And Joey hadn’t even asked to help him carry it.

“A lot!” Joey’s voice cracked.

“Well,” Bertrum patted the stack, “You wanted to discuss “what you’re missing” didn’t you?”

What had Joey signed up for?

“Mr. Piedmont!” Joey flicked a hand towards the stack, “I don’t have time for this!”

“Time?” Bertrum’s eyes narrowed, “You should have thought of that before you wasted my time with your nonsensical replies, _Joey.”_

Joey felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand straight up, “Well, listen, isn’t there some way to condense this?”

“OH!” Bertrum laughed, “This IS condensed. However, if you don’t have the _time_ for your multi-million dollar investment, you can find someone else who is willing to put with your work ethics!”

The saccharine smile on Bertrum’s face left Joey at a crossroads, possibly the most important crossroads of his extended career. Sure, he could find someone else to work with, but Bertrum was dumb enough to deal with him for a year. That on its own was a big benefit that probably very few other contractors would offer. On top of that, Bertrum’s schematics - even if they made no sense - were stunning. His architectural understanding was colorful, fun, and poppy, which was perfect for the Bendy aesthetic. If Joey tried to find someone else, would he enjoy their designs as much? After all, he too was dumb enough to fight over this for a year.

Joey sighed once more. He’d probably be doing that a lot today.

“Okay,” Joey got up and walked over to the office door, “Hold on.”

Bertrum perked up.

“GERTRUDE!” Joey shouted out the door.

There was a pause.

“WHAT?” came a gravelly lady’s voice from somewhere down the hall.

“CANCEL THE REST OF MY APPOINTMENTS TODAY. I HAVE WORK TO DO.”

 

“YES SIR, MR DREW,” her voice could barely shout.

Joey then shut the door before stalking back to his seat.

“You’re willing to give me your whole day?”

Joey’s fell back into his seat as his brow furrowed, “If I have to. Yes.”

Bertrum’s eyes grew slightly wider, as if he were waking up from a nap, “Well! I appreciate that.”

“You’d better,” Joey wasn’t going to be sweet about it, but he was going to try to cooperate, “Let’s start at the beginning.”

Have you ever chatted with a friend, and they’re really into something that you know nothing about, but you still want to hear them out either because you love them that much or you just have nothing else better to do? That was how Joey felt as he listened to Bertrum’s explanations. Most of Bertrum’s technological mumbo jumbo was indiscernible, but it was just technological enough that it carried respectability with it. Not only was Bertrum’s passion obvious, but the way he articulated it sounded as if he was born in an engine and molded by metal plating. There might as well have been smoke coming from his mouth with each breath. Well, there was smoke, as both he and Joey shared cigars from Joey’s desk as the day went on and on through their year’s correspondence. Papers flew behind the couch and across the floor, legs went from firmly placed to loosely hanging off the edge of the couch, and both of them had taken off their coats and vests by the time they started to get tired.

In the end, the conclusion seemed obvious. Joey felt terrible about it, but it was true:

“I should just... Let you go shouldn’t I?”

Bertrum’s eyes grew wide.

“NO! Not like that,” Joey rubbed his forehead, trying to work his exhaustion off, “Just let you do whatever you see fit. You... You know a lot of shit.”

“Well, someone needs to,” Bertrum chuckled.

Joey couldn’t help but chuckle back, “Yeah, yeah.”

“But you’d really... do that?”

Joey blinked as he met Bertrum’s gaze.

“You’d really give me creative control?”

Joey snapped his fingers, “THAT’S WHAT IT’S CALLED. Yes. Creative control. I’d like to be kept updated, of course, but... You know what you’re doing. I might even give you Mr. Cohen’s contact information, since he’s our accountant. You two could do a lot.”

There was a long pause. Joey watched as the skepticism and aggression slowly drained from Bertrum’s features, revealing how exhausted he really was. The man pushed his hair back, and only a few loose strands fell back over his face.

“Finally, you’re making SENSE!” Bertrum threw the papers into the air, “THANK GOD. NOW ADMIT IT.”

Joey jumped back at Bertrum’s shouting, “ADMIT WHAT?!”

“ADMIT YOU HAVE NO ENGINEERING BACKGROUND.”

Joey glanced around nervously, making sure no one heard them, “I THOUGHT THAT WAS OBVIOUS?!”

“THEN WHY WERE YOU CORRECTING ME?! WHY WERE YOU STEPPING INTO A RING YOU COULDN’T FIGHT IN?!”

Joey stared. And stared. And... Thought. His mind was racing, trying to find an excuse as to why he kept correcting Bertrum. The answer was obviously “as a person, I value having complete control over everything I’m involved in,” but you can’t just say that in a conversation, especially not to someone that was this attractive and this intelligent.

“Because,” Joey took a deep breath, “Because I felt like I knew! I felt like I knew what I was looking at, and now I realize I had no idea!”

Bertrum’s eyes narrowed. It was obvious he knew this was an excuse, but to be fair, it wasn’t inaccurate. “Engineering should be easy,” said an oblivious Joey twelve months ago.

However, Bertrum accepted the excuse nonetheless, “Fine. So you admit you’re stupid?”

“I’m not STUPID,” Joey growled, “You’re the one that has been name-calling instead of doing anything productive!”

“WHAT?” Bertrum yowled, “I HAVE BEEN TRYING WITH YOU CONSTANTLY.”

“YOU HAVE CONSISTENTLY BEEN LABELING ALL OF YOUR WORK WITH JARGON THAT I DON’T UNDERSTAND!”

Bertrum recoiled, “Uh... Actually, you have a point. You didn’t know what any of this meant-”

“AND WHY DID YOU EXPECT ME TO KNOW WHAT IT MEANT?”

“BECAUSE YOU ACTED LIKE YOU DID-”

“BUT I OBVIOUSLY DIDN’T-”

“OH FUCK OFF, YOU’RE MY EMPLOYER. IT IS YOUR JOB TO LET ME KNOW IF YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT I’M DOING. That is also the job of a goddamn ADULT.”

“ALSO as an adult, YOU SHOULD HAVE ASKED IF YOU HAD A SUSPICION INSTEAD OF NAME-CALLING.”

“FINE. MAYBE I SHOULD HAVE.”

“AND I SHOULD HAVE TOLD YOU I WAS CONFUSED.”

“FINE.”

“FINE.”

They both blinked, nearly in unison. Never before had Joey experienced a yelling match that actually ended in apologies, and - judging from Bertrum’s expression - neither had he. They held uncomfortable eye contact for a solid moment before tearing their gazes away. Joey, in particular, decided to focus on the cream pleather of the couch. God, this furniture was tacky. He loved it.

“So, uh,” Bertrum was now focusing on the back wall, “We got that settled, I guess.”

“Yes, apparently we did!” Joey kept a positive tone as he looked back up, “So. That’s good.”

“Yes! Yes it is!” and for the first time, Bertrum smiled, and that smile made all of this worth it.

The feelings Joey had in the waiting room suddenly crashed back into him, and moreover, they brought with them a contended warmness in his heart, something he had never felt before. Not only had he just shown his true colors - screaming at an employee - but that employee screamed right back at him, and even felt the same relief at doing so? It was rare to find someone that was willing to stand up to Joey’s presence, let alone someone that was willing to go toe-to-toe with him. It felt... Good. Even right. It made the smile that stretched across Bertrum’s lips feel earned.

... oh no.

“Well!” Joey clasped his hands once more, “Do you have any other concerns?”

Bertrum glanced around the room, blinking as if he came out from a daze, “Uh, no. But... I do need to get my things back together.”

“Let me help you!” Joey’s last two words almost slurred together as he leapt off the couch and walked towards the papers on the floor, “But I do have one more question for you, Mr. Piedmont.”

“And what would that be?”

Joey let the quiet tension build as he collected the papers around him, and Bertrum fell right into the trap as he, too, grew quiet from picking up his own work. Joey even glanced back, and he caught Bertrum trying to steal his own glance in return.

As Joey pulled his findings together, he started back towards Bertrum, and he threw out the first question: “Are you busy this evening?”

There was an uncertain pause as Bertrum looked him up and down, “No? God, do you want another meeting?”

“No!” Joey laughed as he handed his stack of paper over, “I was just wondering if I could take you out for dinner.”

Joey threw the question out without any worries. Surely, after six hours of rambling about his passions, Bertrum would he willing to have a meal that at the most would be an hour and a half long. There'd be food, for God's sake!

“You want,” Bertrum snickered as he took his papers, “To take me out for dinner?”

“Yes!” Joey gestured to the office around them, “People are more than just their professions! I want to meet more than the engineer that is Bertrum Piedmont!”

That got a laugh, “Are you serious?”

“Absolutely!”

Bertrum chuckled a bit more as he pulled all of his papers into a neat stack. Joey attempted to help by patting the sides of the pages, which was generally useless, but it was the thought that counted.

“Joey Drew,” recognition flashed across Bertrum's face, “Are you asking me out on a date?”

Joey had been caught, and all he could do was smirk back as he replied: “If you’ll let me.”

No one could deny the Joey Drew smirk. No one. Susie, Allison, Sammy, Norman, Tom, half of the staff of Joey Drew Studios saw the warning signs of working here, yet each one of them fell into line from that smirk. It held a power and a charm no other smile did. It had to work.

Bertrum chuckled. It was sweet, soft; an obvious change of his tone.

“No!”

“... what?” Joey blinked.

“After how you’ve treated me for a year, you really think I’d want to date you?” Bertrum laughed as he stood up, “You really are a fool.”

Joey couldn’t comprehend. His mind was spinning. Surely this was just a joke, and Bertrum was about to say “just kidding!” No one denied Joey Drew what he wanted! NO ONE.

“You’re joking,” Joey breathed.

Bertrum cackled, “Your arrogance is worse than I thought! Lacie will die when I tell her about you!”

Lacie? Who’s Lacie? Does Bertrum have a girlfriend? Oh God. Oh God, Bertrum isn’t gay, is he? Joey hadn’t even considered that option.

“Although.”

Joey blinked, facing the reality he was trying desperately to reject.

Bertrum took two steps, closing the distance between them. Joey’s eyes fell into the green in front of him, to the point he only barely felt a hand cup his face.

“You definitely have my attention.”

Two lips gently pecked Joey’s cheek before both they and the hand left Joey’s face, and a cold breeze fell across Joey’s cheeks. He blinked.

“What?”

Bertrum picked up his stack of work, “I’ll see you around, Joey.”

Bertrum then strolled out of the office as if a band was playing “Pomp and Circumstance” with his every step. Joey’s eyes followed him, but his feet stayed cemented to the ground as he tried to catch up with what just happened. Susie was immediately charmed the moment Joey started flirting with her. Tom - despite the magic and despite the hassle of the Ink Machine - was willing to work with Joey’s sweet smile and classy charm. So how the fuck did Bertrum Piedmont just come in, step on Joey’s ego for six hours straight, and then not even give him one date?

... but he got a kiss?

Joey’s hand reached up, his fingers tentatively touching the cheek Bertrum had pecked.

“... wow.”

Joey Drew had never been so enraptured in his life.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not sure if I'll write any more, but we'll see! I just really like this dynamic, and haven't seen much of it, and you know what they say: if you don't see what you want, make it!  
> Sometimes I draw Bendy stuff, but I'm always screaming about the game, so drop by [My Twitter](https://twitter.com/your_narrator13) if you wanna see that, and thank you for reading!


End file.
